The Wall - Hardcover

Sutcliffe, William

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0802734928 ISBN 13: 9780802734921

Publisher: Bloomsbury Children's Books, 2013

Synopsis

Joshua lives with his mother and step-father in Amarias, an isolated town, where all the houses are brand new. Amarias is surrounded by a high wall, guarded by soldiers, which can only be crossed through a heavily fortified checkpoint. Joshua has been taught that the Wall is the only thing keeping his people safe from a brutal and unforgiving enemy.

One day, Joshua stumbles across a tunnel that leads underneath the Wall. The chance to catch a glimpse of life on the other side of The Wall is too tempting to resist. He's heard plenty of stories about the other side, but nothing has prepared him for what he finds . . .

Set in a tense reality closely mirroring Israel's West bank, this deeply affecting parable of a boy who undertakes a short journey to another world lingers long after completion.

About this title

About the Author

WILLIAM SUTCLIFFE is the author of five previous novels-the international bestseller Are You Experienced?, The Love Hexagon, New Boy, Bad Influence and, most recently, Whatever Makes You Happy. The Wall is his first novel for teens. His work has been translated into more than twenty languages.

Reviews

Gr 7-10–Drawing from the military and cultural tensions in the West Bank, this is a deeply moving tale about a boy whose life dramatically shifts once he realizes the truth about where he lives. Thirteen-year-old Joshua lives with his mother and stepfather in Amarias, a heavily guarded town with a high wall meant to keep out the militants who presumably live on the other side. While searching for an errant soccer ball, he comes across a tunnel leading underneath the Wall. Realizing that he won't get a glimpse of what lies beyond it until his military conscription in a few years, the curious teen crawls toward the unknown. Upon emerging, Joshua is chased by boys who are intent on harming him. Risking her own life, Leila offers Joshua refuge in her home and later leads him safely back to the tunnel. From this point on, the novel takes on a decidedly existential tone; Joshua is crippled with guilt over his inability to help Leila overcome her many hardships. He also struggles to reconcile his parents' firmly held ideas about the “militants” with the girl who saved him. Joshua's feelings lead him to make several well-meaning choices that do more harm than good for Leila and her family. His tenuous relationship with his stepfather worsens, culminating in a terrifying standoff. Through brilliant pacing and a relatable protagonist, Sutcliffe sensitively portrays the brutal realities of military occupation. For those wishing to understand more about the West Bank, there is a helpful author's note with suggested readings. Recommend with Elizabeth Laird's A Little Piece of Ground (Haymarket, 2006) and Michael Morpurgo's Shadow (Feiwel & Friends, 2012) to readers interested in learning more about conflicts in the Middle East.–Lalitha Nataraj, Escondido Public Library, CAα(c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Thirteen-year old Joshua's circumscribed life in the newly developed and carefully guarded town of Amarias changes when a search for his soccer ball takes him over The Wall. This barrier separates his people from those on the other side, who are, according to his stepfather, "Terrorists! People who want to kill us!" Joshua's discovery of a bulldozed house, a tunnel, and a town so different from his-both in its liveliness and its poverty-along with an act of friendship from a supposed enemy challenge this perspective. Narrating in first-person present tense, Joshua shares his internal struggles and corresponding actions as his growing awareness of contrasting social realities awaken him to a world of nuance, political complexity, and ethical dilemmas. For example, a request from his new friends to water their orchard on his side of The Wall leads Joshua to defy parental limits and government strictures. Throughout this riveting story, which parallels the conflict on Israel's West Bank, adult author Sutcliffe conveys a sense of the moral imperative to bear witness and risk failure in pursuit of justice. Ages 12-up. Agent: Felicity Rubinstein, Lutyens & Rubinstein.

The towering Wall is a central reality of 13-year-old Joshua’s life. It separates his town Amarias from another settlement, which is accessed only through a heavily fortified checkpoint. Or so Joshua thinks until one day, attempting to retrieve a lost soccer ball, he finds a tunnel. Unable to resist, he crawls through it and discovers that he has passed under the Wall and is in that forbidden settlement on its other side. What and who he finds there will change his life in ways he couldn’t have imagined. The vividly realized but nonspecific setting for this novel is clearly intended to evoke the West Bank, while the two settlements epitomize the antagonistic relationship between Israelis and Palestinians, an antagonism that is mirrored in the fraught relationship between Joshua and his religiously conservative stepfather, who is rabidly opposed to the settlement on the far side of the Wall. Don’t expect subtlety in this novel of intolerance and segregation; the clearly pro-Palestinian story is too visceral for that. But do expect strong writing and serious discussion both in and outside the classroom. Grades 9-12. --Michael Cart

Edition details

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Children's Books
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0802734928
• ISBN 13: 9780802734921
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 304